Tony Phelps-Jones is director of ministry for Prospects, which helps churches in the United Kingdom provide “effective ministry and outreach among people dearly loved by God and often marginalised by society.” The organization focuses on those with learning disabilities.

Read an account on EthicsDaily.com about the July 2013 Enabling Church conference in Bristol, England. Speakers discussed a range of ways that congregations can become more inclusive of people with disabilities.

Randy Dignan is pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Mo. He is fluent in American Sign Language, and the church has an extensive ministry for the deaf, including worship services. Dignan grew up surrounded by deaf family members and says he has always felt called to ministry for the hearing-impaired.

Read a Sept. 14, 2013, story from Mid-Missouri Public Radio about a Baptist church in Jefferson City, Mo., that holds services for the deaf.

A Sept. 17, 2013, article details the findings of a LifeWay Research survey on Americans’ beliefs about mental illness and the role of faith in curing it.

Towers Online, the news service of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has a primer about the SBC and its annual meeting.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has a graphic showing that one in six Americans are Baptists. The graphic breaks that figure down by the various Baptist denominations.

Read a June 10, 2009, Religion News Service story, “Southern Baptists look for cures to stagnation.”